I text Rhys and told him that I didn’t want to go out clubbing like he had suggested, but coffee sounded good one day and I said to him that perhaps he should come out to Royal Oak and try ‘icoco’ because he had always told me about how he wanted to try it out.
He text me back asking me if I was in the city by any chance and I told him that I was actually at home. He asked me if I wanted to do something and I told him that I would come into the city. He gave me a call and said that he would come over to Royal Oak and we could have coffee over there so I set him up with the right bus and told him where to get off and arranged to meet him there soon.
Because I got dropped off instead of having to walk, I got there a bit early. It was 2.30pm when he arrived and we sat outside; me with a hot chocolate and Rhys with his latté and biscotti. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, not since I left work at Telecom. We were talking about what was new and it was a coffee place that he had always wanted to go to so I asked him how he found out about it and what he thought about it.
It was such a beautiful day, there were no clouds in the sky and the weather was quite hot. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I wasn’t really fussed, that I was up for anything. We decided to go into the city because he wanted to take me to ‘Brazil’ where they serve great coffee. We ventured there by bus. When we got there, he ordered another latté and some cheesecake and we went upstairs and sat there. He read the newspaper and I started reading the pull-out ‘Canvas’ from the morning Herald which I had already read at home. It was a bit uncomfortable because we sat there in silence for about half an hour reading our respective materials. I had read every single article two or more times and was running out of things to pretend to read. I decided that I would pull out the lip balm and start applying that, perhaps breaking the pattern. Luckily it worked.
We were walking back into the city and he said that he would give his friend Shawn a call and see what he was up to. He arranged for both of us to go to Mission Bay where he lives with his two sisters and some other boarders in the house while his parents are in China for a couple of months. I didn’t really want to go thought that I may as well, even though it wasn’t my thing.
We stopped off at IMAX on the way though because Rhys wanted to look at mobile phones. We spent a good twenty minutes looking at phones and talking about why they were so good or bad. He remembered that he needed to buy a bottle of wine to take over the Shawn’s so we walked down to Foodtown on Quay Street and bought that and then walked over to the bus stop which was a few hundred metres away and waited.
He rang a friend and spoke to her the whole bus journey over and then called another friend as we were walking to Shawn’s house. I decided that I would ring Alistair and be anti-social as well so talked to him for a couple of minutes. He was on his way back with the group; they were on the train. I told him about what I was doing and said that I was a bit apprehensive because I hadn’t met Shawn before and I had no idea what we would all be doing.
It was really cool when we finally got there because everyone was so nice and friendly. We sat at the dining table and went through the Property Press looking at different houses and found the one that Rhys and I stopped at on the way and had a look at. Shawn’s sister come out and said “Hello” to me and asked if I was Japanese. Shawn was asking if I spoke any Asian languages and I said no and Rhys was telling him all about my family and things like that.
We went and sat outside and drank some wine and talked about friends that we had in common and Matt O’Brien came up. We all exchanged our Matt O’Brien stories and some good laughs. It was pretty cool. We then sat at the computer going through pictures and talking about all these different gay people, looking at different profiles and just having some fun.
We decided to go out and get something to eat so Rhys took us into the city in Shawn’s car and we went to a Downtown food court. We got to the food court and Shawn went to get some Japanese and Rhys said that I could share his Thai because he wasn’t going to eat it all by himself and that was fine by me. He asked me if I liked my food spicy and I said that I did. When we started eating it, I told him that it was really spicy and I needed a drink. He said that he thought I liked spicy food and when he started eating it, he realised it was actually very spicy. I went and got him a drink as well and we both couldn’t finish it.
It was quite funny because when we had finished eating, I put my plastic bottle on the tray for it to be thrown away. Rhys told me that it should really be recycled so he took it and put it in a plastic bag for him to take home! He told me that he always takes bottles and things like that home to be recycled which I thought was a bit extreme but it seemed like he was used to doing it.
Rhys drove me home and I told him the wrong off-ramp to take but managed to bluff my way out of it once I figured out where we were. When I got home, Alistair told me that he was in a pretty bad mood.
I asked him what was wrong and he said that when he found out I was with Rhys, his friend on the train asked him who Rhys was in a jokingly fashion. He told her that it was the person I had slept with when we had broken up for a while and she said that if she were in that situation, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She wasn’t very respectful towards his feelings and it started putting ideas in his head. He said that he felt really silly but just the thought of Rhys hugging me and being close to me made him really sad. I told him that that doesn’t happen and he said that it used to. I felt really helpless, but then again, I didn't do anything wrong!
It was a great day though. It was good to meet some new people.
He text me back asking me if I was in the city by any chance and I told him that I was actually at home. He asked me if I wanted to do something and I told him that I would come into the city. He gave me a call and said that he would come over to Royal Oak and we could have coffee over there so I set him up with the right bus and told him where to get off and arranged to meet him there soon.
Because I got dropped off instead of having to walk, I got there a bit early. It was 2.30pm when he arrived and we sat outside; me with a hot chocolate and Rhys with his latté and biscotti. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, not since I left work at Telecom. We were talking about what was new and it was a coffee place that he had always wanted to go to so I asked him how he found out about it and what he thought about it.
It was such a beautiful day, there were no clouds in the sky and the weather was quite hot. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I wasn’t really fussed, that I was up for anything. We decided to go into the city because he wanted to take me to ‘Brazil’ where they serve great coffee. We ventured there by bus. When we got there, he ordered another latté and some cheesecake and we went upstairs and sat there. He read the newspaper and I started reading the pull-out ‘Canvas’ from the morning Herald which I had already read at home. It was a bit uncomfortable because we sat there in silence for about half an hour reading our respective materials. I had read every single article two or more times and was running out of things to pretend to read. I decided that I would pull out the lip balm and start applying that, perhaps breaking the pattern. Luckily it worked.
We were walking back into the city and he said that he would give his friend Shawn a call and see what he was up to. He arranged for both of us to go to Mission Bay where he lives with his two sisters and some other boarders in the house while his parents are in China for a couple of months. I didn’t really want to go thought that I may as well, even though it wasn’t my thing.
We stopped off at IMAX on the way though because Rhys wanted to look at mobile phones. We spent a good twenty minutes looking at phones and talking about why they were so good or bad. He remembered that he needed to buy a bottle of wine to take over the Shawn’s so we walked down to Foodtown on Quay Street and bought that and then walked over to the bus stop which was a few hundred metres away and waited.
He rang a friend and spoke to her the whole bus journey over and then called another friend as we were walking to Shawn’s house. I decided that I would ring Alistair and be anti-social as well so talked to him for a couple of minutes. He was on his way back with the group; they were on the train. I told him about what I was doing and said that I was a bit apprehensive because I hadn’t met Shawn before and I had no idea what we would all be doing.
It was really cool when we finally got there because everyone was so nice and friendly. We sat at the dining table and went through the Property Press looking at different houses and found the one that Rhys and I stopped at on the way and had a look at. Shawn’s sister come out and said “Hello” to me and asked if I was Japanese. Shawn was asking if I spoke any Asian languages and I said no and Rhys was telling him all about my family and things like that.
We went and sat outside and drank some wine and talked about friends that we had in common and Matt O’Brien came up. We all exchanged our Matt O’Brien stories and some good laughs. It was pretty cool. We then sat at the computer going through pictures and talking about all these different gay people, looking at different profiles and just having some fun.
We decided to go out and get something to eat so Rhys took us into the city in Shawn’s car and we went to a Downtown food court. We got to the food court and Shawn went to get some Japanese and Rhys said that I could share his Thai because he wasn’t going to eat it all by himself and that was fine by me. He asked me if I liked my food spicy and I said that I did. When we started eating it, I told him that it was really spicy and I needed a drink. He said that he thought I liked spicy food and when he started eating it, he realised it was actually very spicy. I went and got him a drink as well and we both couldn’t finish it.
It was quite funny because when we had finished eating, I put my plastic bottle on the tray for it to be thrown away. Rhys told me that it should really be recycled so he took it and put it in a plastic bag for him to take home! He told me that he always takes bottles and things like that home to be recycled which I thought was a bit extreme but it seemed like he was used to doing it.
Rhys drove me home and I told him the wrong off-ramp to take but managed to bluff my way out of it once I figured out where we were. When I got home, Alistair told me that he was in a pretty bad mood.
I asked him what was wrong and he said that when he found out I was with Rhys, his friend on the train asked him who Rhys was in a jokingly fashion. He told her that it was the person I had slept with when we had broken up for a while and she said that if she were in that situation, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She wasn’t very respectful towards his feelings and it started putting ideas in his head. He said that he felt really silly but just the thought of Rhys hugging me and being close to me made him really sad. I told him that that doesn’t happen and he said that it used to. I felt really helpless, but then again, I didn't do anything wrong!
It was a great day though. It was good to meet some new people.
